A Christmas Miracle
by The Big Lazy Dragon
Summary: A little something for the holidays. On Christmas Eve, Demona recalls an event that changed her life.


A Christmas Miracle

Written by Donald E. Fleming II

Story concept by Donald E. Fleming II

Disclaimer: All Gargoyles characters are the property of Disney and Buena Vista Studios and are being used without their consent or permission. Other Gargoyle characters are the property of The Gargoyle Saga (TGS) writing staff and also are being used without their permission. I am receiving no reward for this story other than the satisfaction of being able to share it with others as it is intended solely for my own entertainment and the entertainment of Gargoyle fandom everywhere.

December 24, 1998 

I step back and look up to study my handiwork. I think I did a rather good job, considering that this is the first time I ever decorated a Christmas tree. I never was one to go in for human customs, despite my thousand-years of existence, but this year has been special. This year, everything had gone right for a change.

I finally had my mate back.

I guess it all started a year ago. Last Christmas Eve to be exact. Goliath and his clan had decided to celebrate the holidays at the home of Elisa Maza's parents. There had been the customary dinner, the decorating of the tree. Hudson had regaled the humans with stories of past Christmases at Castle Wyvern. And Angela, romantic that she was and still hoping that I would reform, had insisted I attend. I could tell that the humans were nervous about me, especially Talon and his wife Maggie, but somehow we got through the bulk of the night without my shredding every last one of them.

Angela discovered the Maza family album and started looking through it. Diane saw her and went over to tell her the stories that seemed to go with every picture.

One set Elisa looked at with a profound sadness. Intrigued, I asked her mother about the human in the picture.

"That was Jack," she had said. "He…died four years ago." Then she told me the story of Jack, a pilot and Elisa's intended whose plane had disappeared in a bad blizzard on Christmas Eve, 1993. "He was on his way back from a charter when he flew straight into the worst snowstorm the East Coast had seen in years. He just disappeared from the radar screen and we never saw him again."

"What was he like?" I found myself asking. I wasn't all that interested in human affairs, but I found myself wondering what would have happened had this human lived.

"I think you would have liked him," Diane had told me, forgetting for a moment my dislike of humans. "He was very big on tolerance towards different races. He marched with the Jews when they protested against an Aryan Nation rally in '92. He marched with the Blacks when we protested against the Klan in the summer of '93."

"That's where Elisa met him," Beth said. "She had to drag him off the stage when he got in the Grand Dragon's face and started hurling obscenities at him. Called him a…"

"Beth!" Diane said, quickly cutting her off. "I'll not have that language in this house!"

"I wasn't going to say it," Beth said innocently. "But Jack did call him that."

"What?" Angela asked, then blushed brightly when Beth quickly whispered into her ear. Her jaw dropped open in disbelief. "And he kissed Elisa with that mouth?"

"Eventually, he did," Beth said. "Although, it wasn't until after he got out of jail that they started going out together."

"Why was he in jail?" Angela asked.

"Disorderly conduct," Beth said. "He put up quite a fight when Elisa dragged him off that stage, and she ended up tossing him in the slammer to get him to cool off." Beth shook her head then, laughing slightly. "I'll say this, it made for a hell of a first date!"

"I wonder how he would have reacted to us," Angela had asked.

"He was very open-minded," Diane had said. "I think he would have accepted you just as we have."

"Yeah," Elisa said then, sitting down on the couch next to Angela. "I wish you guys could have met him."

That's when it happened. Whether it was her wish, or an odd alignment of the planets or something else to do with the season, we'll never know, but the words were barely out of Elisa's mouth before there was a bright flash outside and then we heard the noise of a single engine plane passing overhead. From the sounds the engine was making, the pilot was having problems.

We rushed outside and saw the plane turn around, the pilot obviously looking for a place to set down while trying to maintain control. Smoke was trailing behind it.

Goliath jumped to the top of the Maza home, and I found myself following him. We took off from the roof and went after the stricken aircraft.

We caught up with the plane and I took a look inside. The pilot had lost consciousness, so I pulled open the door and plucked him from his seat.

"Get him to safety," Goliath said to me. "I shall try to steer it away from the neighborhood." I dived away from the plane, still holding on to the pilot, and surprising myself in the process, while Goliath rode the plane, using his wings to guide it to a vacant lot at the end of the street. He leapt clear as the plane crashed.

I landed, the pilot still in my arms, and the Maza family and the rest of the clan gathered around me, impressed by my heroics. Elisa was surprised by my actions, but what really surprised her was the pilot.

"Oh, my God," she had gasped. "That's Jack!"

Everything happened quickly from that point on. We figured out what had happened to him. Somehow, he had encountered a time vortex during his flight through the storm and ended up four years into the future. The FAA attributed his disappearance and reappearance to some bizarre atmospheric phenomenon, while UFO buffs insisted that he had been abducted. And Detective Bluestone, Elisa's partner, said it was part of some plot by the Illuminati.

But none of that seemed to matter to the clan, because from that point on, things started to change.

Elisa started spending more time with Jack than with Goliath. It was rough for a while, with Jack and Goliath both vying for her affections, but in the end, Jack came out on top. They were married in June.

Diane had been right about him, I realized. Jack did accept us. More than that, he became one of the strongest voices against the Quarrymen. He organized rallies, protests, letter-writing campaigns against John Castaway and the rest of his narrow-minded ilk.

I also found out he was a fairly decent photographer. He took pictures of us, or rather the clan doing things to help the community. That had a big impact on how the rest of the humans viewed us.

Somewhere along the line, I lost my desire to wipe out humanity. I still had a long way to go before I learned to accept them, and I still do, but Jack and Elisa and Angela have been a big help. And Goliath…

The day Jack and Elisa tied the knot, Goliath asked me to come back to the clan. I was hesitant at first. After all that had happened, I wasn't sure if I could trust them, but Angela pleaded with me to accept. So for her sake, I did.

That was six months ago, and despite everything I had done in the past, I was part of the clan again. The humans say that miracles happen around this time of the year. It looks like they're right.

There's a knock at the door and I turn away from the tree to answer it. It was probably the clan, the _extended _clan. Even though Elisa had married Jack instead of Goliath, the Maza family was still being regarded as part of the clan. After four years, I can understand.

"I'll get that, my love," I hear my mate say. I turn around and see Goliath come down the stairs from the master bedroom. "You finish up what you are doing."

I reach into the box of ornaments and pull out another glass ball to hang on the tree. I smile as I watch him head for the door to greet our guests.

I have him back.

Miracles _do _happen at this time of the year.

The End 


End file.
